Dangerous Games
by Diamond Sylvan
Summary: Higher rating later.Formerly the Dark Side.Lucius just returned from Azkaban.see summary in profile for more. Hermione and Draco later! Hermione Draco Ron triangles, Harry Ginny stuff, maybe some Fleur plus references to other couples. R&R!
1. Reunited

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**Authors Note: I don't really have much to say except that I wrote this in France on the one day when I had some computer time and felt inspired...please tell me what you think!! And also, help with title and chapter names would be greatly appreciated...**

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The Dark Side

Chapter 1

Reunited

Draco sighed, glancing around the table with utter contempt and boredom written in his

face. He had been forced to sit through these events since he was a child of seven years old. His

father, being prestigious in the ministry and other highly renowned groups in the wizarding world,

was constantly holding functions and dinners at the Malfoy Manor. This event, although slightly

different than the others, was just as dull. Since his father had been caught by Harry Potter

(Draco cringed outwardly at the mere thought of the name) things had been different around

Malfoy Manor. From the time school ended until now, his fathers first night home and out of

Azkaban prison, there had been noticeable changes taking place. Firstly, the manor did not run

with the marked efficiency that it had in the days before his fathers departure. Normally, the

house would be the centre of non-stop dinners, balls, and "meetings".

When his father had been captured, Narcissa, Dracos mother, had not left her bed

chambers, and the houselves had been slacking off. No matter how many times Draco

reprimanded them, the consistently forgot to dust the mantelpiece and stair rail. No matter how

much practice he had, and no matter how many times he tried, he could never get quite the air of

command and distain in his voice that his father had mastered so perfectly. Just the sound of his

voice was enough to make anyone, Draco included, shudder with fear. Upon hearing that tone,

people were filled with a desire to do whatever Luscious suggested.

This was a gift, an art, of speaking to people and getting them to want to do what you

wanted them to do. This was part of the reason that Luscious was such a worthy and valued

servant of the Dark Lord. This was also the reason that Luscious had so much influence in the

ministry and had so many highly placed friends. It was also the reason that his marriage to

Narcissa Black had been a success. It was the reason that Luscious had done as well as he had

done in life.

Tonight, the purpose of the meeting being held at Malfoy Manor was to make a plan of

action on the elimination of Harry Potter. All of the Death Eaters who had been captured by

Harry Potter and Dumbledore were rejoining the ranks of the Death Eaters and being filled in on

what had been happening. Luscious was going to be a very busy man. His first task was to get

back in to the good graces of the ministry, and then to get his fellow Death Eaters back in

favour, their reputations clear. Fudge would be easy, his mind was easily moulded. All it would

take was a few well worded articles from Reeta Skeeter and Fudge would turn on Dumbledore

again. Reeta had been quite instrumental in the fall of Dumbledore and Harry Potter, although it

was a pity that Hermione had found out about her secret. That article had ruined quite a lot of

work.

"You'll just have to submit the articles under a faux name, the Granger mud blood will never

suspect." Draco heard the wheedling voice of his father state from his right. "Those articles, as

well as our influence in the Daily Prophet is imperative, you understand Reeta." His father said,

looking at a fidgeting Reeta. She was wearing a red tailored suit, the same shade of red as her

long, pincer like talons that passed as fingernails. In her hand she was clutching an alligator

handbag and a pad of paper. Under Luscious praise and assurances of her importance, she

relaxed slightly, just as everyone did when they were in Luscious favour.

Lucious was treading on thin ice here, and everyone at the table excluding Reeta herself

knew it. She was not only key in the bringing of the Death Eaters back into the favour of the

minister, but also in the eyes of the public. It would be the public who would eventually decide

whether or not the Death Eaters would be successful, which was why fear was such a useful

weapon. People tended to be easily convinced of many things when blinded by fear, or even if

they were not blinded, all were too weak to stay opposed to Voldemort when faced with what

he was capable of.

"Yes, yes of course!" She said, jotting something down on her paper. "I'll have to put just

the right spin on it, Dumbledore; crazy, had us all fooled, scheming to take over as minister...that

kind of thing."

"Yes Reeta, that's exactly what we want." Luscious assured her, with the air of talking to an

over excited five year old who had just received a great treat. Reeta chewed on the end of her

pen, twisting a lock of hair around her figure.

"Only, how exactly am I supposed to prove these claims?" Reeta asked, coming back

down to earth. She really was rather thick, as Draco had learned in his fourth year when she

had been routing around for information on Hermione and Harry, he and his friends had been

only too pleased to oblidge.

"The same way you did it with Potter a little while back. Use your animargus form, do some

snooping, maybe an interview or two with outside sources, talk to Dumbledore and get quotes

that you can manipulate. Why do I need to go over this with you every time? You're good at

what you do, so just do it!" Luscious sounded a little peeved now, but delivered the last

statement in a way so that she could not be offended. He complemented her in a way that made

it sound bad. Reeta sank a little lower in her seat, looking scared, but still writing fast. Some of

the other Death Eaters traded impressed looks. Draco couldn't help but feel a small bubble of

pride welling up in his chest; his dad was so feared and respected, it would be a life

accomplishment for Draco to measure up to the man his father was. "Reeta, we need you, and

we need these articles."

"Yes, but isn't it rather, mean?" She asked, hesitant, yet also determined.

"Reeta, Reeta, Reeta," wheedled Luscious. "You wouldn't want to find yourself in the same

position you were in last year, would you? Do you remember?" He asked her, threateningly, yet

in a dreadfully calm manor.

"No, no of course not. It will be in the press within the week." She told him.

"Not good enough, I want it in tomorrows paper, I'll be expecting it." He told her. Some of

the other Death Eaters looked nervous now, was it really wise to push her so? Yet Draco had

all the confidence in the world that his father knew exactly what he was doing, and glancing at

aunt Bella, he had no need to worry. She was lounging in her seat, scanning the room lazily,

totally at her ease. She apparently had all the confidence in the world that Luscious could handle

it, and if he couldn't, well, he always had her as backup.

Reeta jumped up and scampered to the door, knowing that that was her cue to go. Draco

could see the expression of fear in her eyes, the same way he often felt around his father,

although after years of practice he was able to hide it.

"Now that she's gone, let's get down to business, who's taking notes?" Said Luscious,

changing his tone so that it was crisp and authoritative. He pointed to Vincent Crabbe and

signalled a houself to come forward. The houself had been sitting in a corner, waiting for the cue.

It silently bore a silver tray with wine and wine glasses. Luscious poured himself a glass, sipped

and set the glass down. A moment later his expression changed, he threw the glass on the floor,

spewing wine from his lips and in to the face of the elf, and knocked the tray out of the

houselves hands. "You call this red wine? I call this utter rubbish, bring me the 1872 bottle, now!

Don't just stand there!" Luscious yelled at the terrified elf. It scampered away, eyes down, feet

stumbling slightly. Draco thought there was something familiar in this elves manor and

appearance. The way its ears flapped and its eyes widened.

When the elf returned Luscious tasted the wine and sighed with pleasure, sinking back into

his seat, signalling the other elves forward to serve his guests with a slight flick of his wrist. The

long, hard oak table was almost full, save for the empty seat Reeta had filled moments before.

His father was at one end of the table with Narcissa to his right and Draco to his left. At the

other end of the table there was an empty seat, sometimes filled by the Dark lord himself. The

lengths of the table were filled by the numerous Death Eaters, Crabbe, Goyle, Mcnare, Belatrix,

the whole crowd of familiar faces.

Belatrix looked at Draco through hazy, heavily lidded eyes, she was sitting next to him upon

her own request. This was normally the point in the dinner when Draco and his mother would

leave while the Death Eaters discussed plans and future targets. Draco, on cue, stood up, as did

his mother.

"Sit Draco!" Commanded Belatrix, or Aunt Bella as Draco called her. She had always been

his favourite Aunt, his mothers cousin really, so not technically his aunt, but they had been raised

as sisters, and he was always told to refer to her as Aunt Bella. He did whatever she said, for

she, like his father, had that air of command that demanded the attention and obedience of her

audience. He sat, his mother mirrored him. "You can go Narcissa." She said disdainfully. "I think

it is about time he joined the ranks of the Death Eaters, wouldn't you agree Luscious." She

drawled in her thick accent, relict to the years she had spent stationed in France. There were

murmurs around the table from the other Death Eaters. "Silence! Luscious, do you agree, or

no?" Bella asked. Draco tensed, and she removed her hand from his arm where she had

grasped it restrainingly. Draco had long dreamed of serving as a Death Eater beside his father,

but he was not quite sure he was ready yet. He had seen the things they did to each other, and

could not and did not want to imagine the things they did to others.

Yet, perhaps it would be safer to be a Death Eater, that way they would not kill him, and

Dumbledore did not have enough backbone to kill anyone. That was the difference between him

and the Dark Lord. That and that the Dark Lord was on the rise and Dumbledore was going

downhill. It did not matter what Draco wanted, however, it all depended on what his father said.

"He is a bit young, Bella. He is still in school after all. Perhaps next year when he can

perform magic and apperate-"

"Nonsense, he can perform magic. He is a big boy, aren't you Draco." It was not a

question, so he did not respond. "Besides, he is now perfectly positioned to suit our needs. We

need someone to infiltrate their ranks, and we need someone who can get to Potter without

suspicion. It is time Luscious, you cannot go on protecting him forever." She said, looking at his

father pointedly and implying something Draco did not understand. What did she mean,

protecting him? From what?

"Yes, of course Bella, that's all well and good, but we do not want the ministry on our tale

about underage magic of all things. And he would not be able to attend meetings during school,

there would be suspicion aroused." Luscious said, fidgeting nervously and averting his eyes from

Draco. He was apparently disturbed by what she had said. Draco had never seen his father like

this before.

"Well of course not, and there would be certain necessary precautions taken, of course, but

I think it is time he knew what we are doing here, what we are planning and what we're all

about."

"And what do you think He would say about all this?" Luscious asked her nervously.

"Draco is rather young after all, do you think He would approve?"

"If by 'He' you mean my Lord Voldemort," there were shivers around the table, Luscious

himself cringed slightly. Draco showed no emotion at all, he had heard the name before, and

although he would not go so far as to use it himself, he could see nothing wrong with saying it.

Unless the Dark Lord himself would appear suddenly whenever someone said his name, then

there was no reason not to say it. It was, after all, merely a name. Bella appeared indifferent to

the reaction she got to the name. "He was asking about it just the other day, he wanted to know

how old the boy was, and whether or not he was going to become a Death Eater. Of course,

we all knew the Draco would. He's a Slytherin, a Malfoy, part Black, and a wonderful wizard,"

Bella ticked off on her figures, giving him a favouring smile. "Of course he would become a

Death Eater.

Draco cringed inwardly-he did not let any emotion register on his face during a moment

when his fate was being decided and an entire room of powerful wizards was staring at him-

upon hearing this, his fate had been sealed the day he was born solely because of his parents.

Sometimes he envied mud bloods, if only for their freedom to choose their paths. Not that he

would ever want to be a mud blood, that would be beyond unthinkable.

"Well, I suppose so then, Draco, from now on you are a Death Eater, you will stay at these

meetings with us and will attend all of the ones we have when you are not in school." He said the

last part slightly louder and more firmly, looking around the table, challenging anyone who

thought to argue with this. Bella raised her eyebrows, but did not speak. "Happy Bella?"

Luscious taunted, knowing that this was not enough for her, but also knowing she could do

nothing to change what he had said.

"Of course Luscious," a faint smile was creeping in to her eyes, as if she had some secret

that kept her going. A secret no one else knew. "But you do know that I am not the person you

need to please. It is Voldemort who will decide who is happy in the end." Everyone except

Draco cringed at the sound of the name, and in the silence that followed this statement, there

was a distinct shudder that ran around the table. Luscious said nothing, although he looked

slightly uneasy.

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**Authors Note: Ok, so please review and tell me what you think!! I really do have some good ideas, and am, as always, open to any suggestions or critisms that you may have. All of the hinting that I did in that chapter was not just for fun, it really did have a purpose, and I am not, as I normally do, making this up as I go along, I have an actual plotline for his one-well, at least I think I do...anyway, tell me what you think!! Jules**

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	2. Happy Family

Chapter 2

Happy Family

"I think that's all we need to discuss here, I will work on the minister, the rest of you lay low and stand by until I give you the word. Are we clear? Do nothing to attract attention to yourselves. Am I clear?" There was a nodding around the table, and general murmurs of assent at Lucious's instructions.

"I do not think that we are quite finished, actually Lucious." Declared the one person who would dare to oppose Lucious, Aunt Bella. "We have not yet dealt with the issue of the role Draco is to play, considering he is now a Death Eater." Bella said slyly, giving Draco a tiny nudge and wink. Draco had been forced to sit through an hour of debating over the best way to handle the minister, and he was on the point of dozing off to sleep when he heard his name mentioned.

"Ah, yes. Draco, how could I have forgotten?" Lucious hissed dangerously, glaring at Bella. "Draco will try to become Potter's friend and position himself strategically so that we can get to the Potter boy through him, I hardly thought there was any question on that matter." Lucious said to the room at large, raising his voice so that everyone at the far end of the table could hear every syllable.

Draco sat up straighter, now that the attention of the room was focused on him. He felt himself flushing and sweating slightly in his palms. Him and Harry become friends? Impossible. Harry would never trust him.

"Very good." Bella said, not very convincingly. She was barely able to hide her contempt for the fact that Lucious had once again stolen her thunder and attention. She had wanted to be the one to declare the obvious plan of what was to be done with Draco. No one heard Bella getting the last word, for everyone had already begun to stir restlessly and shuffle papers away.

"The meeting's over. Welcome back faithful friends. We have our work cut out for us. Draco, you can go to bed, I'll see you in the morning. Don't say a word to your mother, as I know she is standing at the top of the stairs waiting for you, go up the back way why don't you?" Lucious whispered in his sons ear, much to the displeasure of Bella.

Bella attempted to move closer and hear the whispered conversation, but she was too late. Draco had already slipped through the crowd and up the back stairs to his bedroom. Looking behind him as he went up the stairs he saw his father head Bella off and engage her in conversation. She smiled blankly enough, but anyone could have seen the barely concealed rage in her eyes.

Draco locked the door to his bedroom and leaned against it. He took a deep breath and walked across the room to him window. He leaned his head against the glass and watched the window fog over from his breath.

He looked out at the grounds surrounding his house. There was a pool outside, and a patio. There were trees that he remembered climbing as a boy, there were so many memories on those grounds.

There was the fort he had made at he age of seven where he had run away for three days when he had been mad at his father.

There was the place where he had made friends with a baby rabbit and come out every day waiting for it with a carrot. By the end of the summer it had been waiting for him when he arrived. Draco had been devastated when he had found the poor broken body of a rabbit half eaten by one of the seven manor cats.

There was the little brook that ran across one corner of the yard where Draco used to go frog hunting. Draco smiled at the memories.

There was the hammock where he and his mother used to lie and sing songs together.

That had been many years ago, before Draco had started Hogwarts, or heard of Death Eaters and Voldemort. He had lived a very privileged and sheltered childhood. Then he had found out about everything, started Hogwarts, and met Harry Potter. He had been told before going to school to do whatever it took to become friends with the Potter boy, but Harry had not wanted anything to do with him. His father had been very upset about that.

Draco lay down on his bed without changing into his night clothes. He hugged a pillow to his chest and closed his eyes. As he fell asleep a tear trickled out of the corner of his eye and leaked down the side of his face. He had always admired his father, always wanted to be just like him, always willing and eager to do anything for his fathers approval. Unfortunately, his father only ever saw him as an implement for increasing his power and influence with the Dark Lord.

The next morning Draco rose to the sunlight filtering through his windowpane and the chirping of the birds outside his window. The summer was drawing to a close, and soon the birds would not be there, but Draco would not be around to watch there migration as he would be back at school, playing at his fathers powerful and dangerous game.

Draco changed out of his clothes from yesterday and went into the bathroom. He splashed water on his face to wake himself up, and brushed his teeth. He had red marks on his face from where he had slept on top of his sleeve button. Draco walked downstairs slowly, trying not to make any noise. He heard the familiar raised voices of his parents. His mother sounded close to tears.

"How could you have Lucious? He's our baby!" Pleaded his mother futily.

"What choice did I have? She was leaving me no options Narcissa. What would you have had me done? Risk the Lords anger?" Demanded Lucious resignedly.

"Yes! Get some gumption and stand up for yourself and your family for once!" Narcissa raged.

"For once? For once! Do you have any idea what I do for this family on a daily basis? Shut up about things you don't understand woman!" Lucious yelled, storming out of the kitchen. Draco heard his mother sobbing. Draco resigned himself to the inevitable and walked slowly down the stairs.

"Mum, shh. It's okay, he doesn't mean anything by it." Draco said consolingly, sitting down at the counter next to his mother.

"But Draco, you're my baby! I don't want you to be a part of all this madness." Sobbed Narcissa even louder, looking up with a tear drenched countenance and red blotches on her face. Draco handed her a kleenex and she blew her nose hard.

"Mum, he didn't have a choice. He did the best he could. She trapped him, and you know how rare it is that dad gets talked into a corner. There was nothing he could have done, and I'll be safe at school." Draco told her soothingly.

"I never thought I'd say it, but thank goodness for Albus Dumbledore. I'm not worried about anything happening to you while you're at school. Nothing can so long as he's around." Narcissa said, standing up and straightening her dress. "Now, shall we have some breakfast?" She asked, snapping her fingers to summon a houself, and acting as if nothing had happened. "I'd like some pancakes with lots of butter and syrup and strawberries. And a fresh pot of tea. Draco?" Narcissa told the houself with as much an air of authority as she could assume

"I'll have the same." Muttered Draco half heartedly.

"Have you finished your summer homework?" Narcissa asked conversationally as they sat down at opposite ends of the long table and started eating their breakfast.

"A while ago." Draco replied, not looking up from his food.

"Oh. Are you excited for school to start?" She asked, taking another stab. Draco looked up, started at her for a moment, and then looked down without speaking a word. Giving up, Narcissa set in to her food as well and the meal passed in silence. Draco finished first and stood up from the table, leaving his empty plates for the houselves. "What are you up to today?" Asked Narcissa to his retreating back.

"Maybe flying some. Thinking of taking a swim later." Draco replied, again without looking round at her.

He went up the stairs to his room and changed into flying robes, grabbing his broom on his way out the door. He went back down to the yard and out the back door. On his way out he saw his mother sitting alone at the big table, looking at her plate but not eating. He saw a tear run down her face and drop on to her plate.

Draco went out onto the field and soared into the air. It was as if he left all of his anger on the ground when he flew. He sped on his Nimbus 2001 around in circles, diving occasionally, and speeding higher and higher into the air. Draco sped and sped and sped faster and faster, the wind whipping his blonde hair into his face. He felt dizzy and on the verge of vomiting, but he pushed his broom even fatster. He had spent the majority of his summer on his broom, flying at breakneck speeds.

Draco had red cheeks from the windburn when he landed, and was cold from the higher altitude and the speed at which he had been going. He went upstairs, shivering slightly, goosebumps standing out on his legs and arms. He jumped into the steaming hot shower and felt the water rushing over him, scalding his skin and turning him from tan to red with heat. His skin was tingling and stinging from the abrupt change in temperature, but he did not care. He welcomed the pain. The outer pain was nothing compared to what he was suffering on the inside. Draco faced the water streaming from the shower head and let it wash over his face, through his hair. He scrubbbed himself with a vengence, and washed his hair vigorously.

He got out of the shower what felt like hours later. He felt empty and sad and angry, but did not know why. He wrapped the towel around himself, and glanced at the mirror. He could not see his reflection due to the fog covering the mirror. He was glad of it.

Draco went into his bedroom and locked the door. It was only just now noon. What would he do with himsef in the remaining week until school? Draco changed into his pajamas and took a long nap, waking with sleep breath and feeling disoriented at around three o'clock. Draco did not know what to do with himself.

He lazed around the house for the next few days, taking frequent naps and showers. He ate a lot, but always when his parents were not around. Somehow he could not bare to face his father after the conversation he had overheard between his mother and him. He didn't want to talk about Voldemort, or Death Eaters, or his 'new responsibilities.' He did not want to talk about a game plan for ho to deal with Harry Potter. Draco was sick of all of it. He was sick of his 'family duties', and the life he would be forced to live because of who his parents were.

Draco punched his pillow in frustration. He had already visited Diagon Alley when the Hogwarts letters first arrived. He was, once again, a prefect. It was beyond Draco why the headmaster kept making him a prefect. Didn't he know that Draco would use the power to torment younger Gryfindor students? This year was going to be a lot less fun than the last. In addition to NEWT prep, more work, and prefect duties, he would also have to be nice to Weasle and Potter. And the mud blood Granger.

Draco hid in his room for the remainder of the week, he read a few books, and generally lazed about. He yelled at several houselves. Yelling at one in particular gave him a vindictive pleasure, it was the familiar looking one with abnormally large floppy ears, and big green eyes. His name was Dotty or something of the kind. Malfoy rolled on to his side and looked out of the window. His eyes glazed over, and it was not long until he fell asleep.

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**Authors Note: Anyone pick up any particular hints or clues for the coming chapters? Wink wink. (that was sort of another hint...) Anyway, I hope to post soon. ANy feedback, ideas, suggestions, constructive critisism is welcome, so please, please, review away. And also, what do you think he should have gotten on the OWLs? Im thinking all 12, but whatever. It hasn't come up yet, and I'll deal with it when it does. So anyway, review, and if youre bored, I have other stories posted for you to read! haha. Tell me if you like it so I know whether or not to continue posting!**

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	3. Back to Hogwarts

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**Authors Note: Hey guys...actually no one is reading this story....oh well, I'm enjoying writing it, so here's another chapter! Haha.**

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Chapter 3

Hogwarts Again

Draco woke early on the morning of September first, eager to leave the monotony of the last week. He packed his trunk, checked under the bed to see if he had forgotten anything, looked in his closet, yelled at the houselves to check around the house, and then, feeling sure that he had everything, dragged his trunk down the stairs to the main entrance hallway.

There was a large sweeping staircase leading up from the entrance hallway, much like at Hogwarts. One door from the entrance lead to the kitchen, and then the dining room. There was a formal sitting room to the other side, and a large bathroom attached. In the kitchen there was also a bathroom attached, and behind the kitchen were the houselves sleeping quarters and Draco supposed laundry rooms and supply cupboards, he had never actually been back there. There was a back staircase up to Draco's wing, which had a bathroom, and a room that used to have all of his toys and now had a leather couch, a pool table, and a snack bar set up. There was also, of course his bedroom. After that there was his parents room, and then two guest bedrooms. There was a crawl space above that, which contained storage space and other miscellaneous things which Draco did not really know about, as he had never really been to that party of the house much either.

Draco waited at the fireplace for his father or mother to come down. They were going to travel by Floo to Kings Cross platform 9 3/4. It was eight o'clock, and Draco realized that he had not had breakfast, not to mention the train did not leave until ten. Draco marched impatiently into the kitchen and told a houself what he wanted. Waffles with syrup. He then stalked into the dining room and saw, to his amazement, his parents sitting together at the dining room table. All be it at opposite ends, and they weren't talking it was true, but they were in the same room, that was a start.

Draco sat down between them and waited for his food. No one spoke.

"All packed?" Asked Lucious quietly.

"Yes." Replied Draco shortly.

"That's good." Lucious said absently. "What time does the train leave?" He asked.

"Ten." Draco replied.

"Ah. That's good. We've got plenty of time then." Lucious said, fishing for something to say to keep the conversation going. "And you'll see the Potter boy on the train?" He decided on.

"Of course." Draco said, looking away. It always turned to this. Either Potter, Granger's better grades, or Dumbledore's incompetence. Even when Draco had told his father that he had received twelve OWLs, all he had replied was "I'll bet the Granger mud blood got thirteen."

"Perfect." Lucious muttered, going back to his food and ignoring his son. Narcissa looked on the verge of tears again. She was so fragile all the time, it was almost unbearable. Draco took a long time to eat his breakfast. His parents both left, so he was sitting at the table alone, thinking about the upcoming year, and his situation as a death eater.

He couldn't get his arms around the fact that he was a Death Eater. Death Eaters were murderers, did that make Draco himself a sort of murderer by association? He wasn't technically a real Death Eater though, considering he didn't have the mark of a Death Eater, and he wasn't expected to attend meetings, and he had never officially met the Dark Lord, although he had been in the house at the same time as him before. Draco had always been kept as far away as possible from those meetings that the Dark Lord attended.

They arrived at Kings Cross later that morning with ten minutes to spare before the train was scheduled to depart.

"Remember Draco, you're to get positioned on the inside with Potter." Hissed his father in his ear as he made to hug him goodbye. Draco shrugged and turned to the train. He dragged his trunk behind him and shoved it into an overhead rack. He then began to trek through the crowded compartments to the front of the train, where, being a prefect, he had been told to go at the beginning of the train ride.

When Draco entered the front compartment the first thing he saw was Weasly, standing next to Granger. Weasly was looking at her the way he always was, in utter awe of her, and with complete devotion in his eyes. Draco snorted his contempt. Even if they couldn't see it, everyone else could. Ron was totally and completely head over heals for Hermione.

Draco scanned the rest of the room. Pansy Parkinson had not yet arrived, and he recognized some of the other people, although did not know any of them well. Draco gritted his teeth, forcing a smile onto his face, and bearing in mind what his father had said. He walked over to where Granger and Weasly were talking, and stood next to them both, joining their triangle.

"Good summer?" He asked,trying to sound as normal as ever.

"Shove off Malfoy." Ron said angrily, gritting his teeth.

"What do you want with us?" Hermione asked him, her bordem and feigned interest apparent in her tone.

"Nothing, just wanted to ask about your summer." Draco replied innocently, smiling still.

"Yeah right, a git like you never says anything normal, much less friendly, what do you want?" Ron asked, looking slightly confused and more than slightly annoyed.

"I told you, I was just interested in your summers." Draco said. "But if you don't want to talk, I can take a hint." Draco said, turning to walk away. When no one called him back he continued to walk, acting as if he had not been expecting to be called back.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked Hermione as soon as Draco had left.

"I don't know." Hermione replied pensively. "He can't know about the Order, or that we're part of it, can he?" She whispered.

"No, how could he?" Ron said, confidently.

"Yes I suppose, funny though, isn't it? Why would he ask about our summers? Seems odd doesn't it?" Hermione said, absent mindedly running her fingers through her hair.

"The only thing I find odd is that he wasn't mean or nasty, and that he wasn't flanked by an army of Slytherins." Ron said firmly, sitting down on one of the seats and motioning for Hermione to sit beside him.

She sat and gazed pensively at Malfoy, who was being ambushed by Pansy Parkinson. She was peppering him with questions about his summer. He was answering monosyllabically and not returning any questions of his own. Suddenly he looked up and met her eyes. She started a little. She turned back to Ron and smiled. Her Ron. He was kind and good and Hermione did not need to worry about Draco, because Ron was here, and she was safe. She did, however, wish that Harry was here. He would know what to make of this.

Hermione smiled at Ron. It seemed that ever since her parents had finally decided that she could get rid of the braces and magically straighten her teeth she couldn't stop smiling. She ran her tongue over her newly smooth and shiny and most importantly straight teeth.

"You're obsessed by your teeth Hermione." Ron said, laughing.

"I can't help it! They're so smooth! Now I know what I've been missing out on all these years." Hermione laughed a little, the problem of Malfoy still nagging at the back of her mind. Ron tugged on one of her unruly curls.

"Hermy, are you excited to go back to school? No OWLs to study for, no Umbrige, no Grawp, hopefully, and we're prefects too." Ron said.

"Don't call me Hermy, it puts me in mind of centaurs and Umbrige and giants. And don't say no studying! We have to start preparing for the NEWTs! The hard part hasn't even started!" Ron groaned. "Who do you think is going to be out new defense teacher?"

"No idea. But whoever it is is bound to be a step up at least. Are we going on with the DA?" Ron asked hopefully.

"I think we should. I know it helped me on the OWLs." Hermione said.

"Way to sneak that in there Hermione. I thought we weren't talking about them?" Ron said, scowling. Talking about the OWLs still brought back memories of the summer.

Ron had only gotten nine, while Hermione had, of course, gotten all twelve, and Harry had scraped eleven. All but history of magic. Ron had been constantly reminded of Percy and Charlie and Bill, who had all gotten twelve. His mother had never once mentioned that the twins had each gotten something like five a piece.

Percy had come back into the folds of the family just in time to rub in Ron's face that he had gotten twelve. He had not even once apologized for his behavior. He just showed up for dinner one night and Mrs. Weasley had cried all over him.

"Well, it did help me. Besides, you got an O in defense against the dark arts, so it must have helped you too." She declared ruthlessly. "And Ron, nine OWLs is not bad, that's quite good really. Why are you so upset about that?"

"Because, Hermione, I want to be an auror, which means I needed an O in potions and transfiguration and defense, and I only got E in transfiguration and A in potions. Now I'll never be able to become an auror." Ron said remorsefully.

"Of course you will. You'll just work extra hard this year. And also, professor Magonagal lets people who get Es into her class. And I'm sure if you express an interest to Professor Snape he will too." Hermione assured him. Ron snorted doubtfully. "What? He'll have to Ron, now that," Hermione looked around cautiously "now that we're in the Order and all."

"He doesn't have to do anything." Ron said.

"Ron, it'll be fine! You'll see. We'll go to Professor Dumbledore if he says no. It'll work, trust me." Hermione told him.

"Yeah, whatever." Ron said moodily, looking out the window.

"Look on the bright side." Hermione coaxed. "Remember, you're on the team still. Mr. Keeper. And Ginny is a chaser, and Harry is back on the team, no more lifetime ban. He's captain too, you will all have such a good time with Quiddich. Just remember that."

"I s'pose." Ron said determined to stay grumpy, but Hermione could still see the traces of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

"And maybe I'll try out for the team, just to give you a good laugh." Hermione told him, although in her heart she wished she would make the team. Maybe now that Harry was captain he could do something...

Ron burst out laughing. Everyone in the compartment looked at him.

"And maybe Hagrid will have gotten rid of you know who. And we can really get SPEW going again. And maybe-"

"We are not getting SPEW going again." Ron interrupted. Hermione ignored him, aknowleging him only with a scowl.

"Maybe Hagrid will be out of the out with Madame Maxim." hermione finished.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, always a little slow o n the uptake.

"You know, remember how much he likes her? And remember how she was mad at him about the whole...incedent? Well maybe they've made up. Maybe she'll be our new defense teacher!" Hermione thrilled.

"Of course she won't. She's already the headmistress of her own school, why would she come here?" Ron asked practically.

"It was just an idea." Hermione said.

"I do wonder who our new defense teacher is though." Ron said. They then proceeded to speculate on who it could be.

From across the room Draco watched them. How could he make them trust him? It obviously wouldn't be as easy as he had hoped. They weren't going to just forget about years of animosity. So what could he do? Maybe Hermione was the key. It was obvious that she held power over Ron, who held power over Harry, as they had demonstrated in the Triwizard. Ron was the thing Harry cared most about. So maybe, just maybe, she was the answer. Girls tended to be more willing to forgive and forget anyway. Perhaps, just perhaps, he could get Hermione to trust him and then in turn get Potter and Weasley. If he could do that it would be an easy next step to get his dad to love him again. If his dad loved him, then his mom would be happy again. Hermione was the key to everything. So how could he get Hermione to trust him?

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**Authors Note: Okay, so that chapter was awful. But it's all good, cause the next chapter is amazing...not to mention no one is reading this story, so the fact that is sucks is no big deal, right?**

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	4. Hogwarts Arrival

Chapter 4

Hogwarts Arrival

The answer to that very question presented itself soon enough. As they were exiting the meeting, Draco overheard Hermione mention SPEW.

"What's SPEW?" He asked curiously from behind her. They were standing waiting for the press of prefects to exit so that they could have their turn to leave too.

"Don't eavesdrop." Hermione said, turning to him and smiling. She had gotten rid of her metal teeth, and they didn't stick out anymore. She almost looked nice. She turned back to Ron. "So anyway, Ron, I was thinking we could put up posters in the commons room-"

"Advertising SPEW?" Draco interrupted again.

"Yes, if you must know." Hermione said, not looking at him. They were moving closer to the door now, Draco followed.

"What is SPEW?" Draco asked.

"An organization. So anyway, Ron, I was thinking we could-"

"An organization to do what?" Draco asked, trying to sound curious.

"It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare." Hermione snapped.

"Never heard of it." Draco said shrugging.

"That's because I started it, it's not a real organization really. Not yet at least. We try to get Elves rights, and holidays, and payment, and clothes of course, and sick leave, and pension, and maybe one day a representative in the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures. The way elves are treated is really quite awful you know." Hermione said, always enthusiastic.

Draco remembered this summer when his father spat wine at that elf, and when he himself had kicked elves, and ordered them around. He felt more than a little guilty over it now.

"Of course he knows, Hermione, you're talking to the guy who owns the second largest number of houselves in the world. Right after Hogwarts." Ron said snidely.

"How do I join this organization?" Draco asked.

"You want to?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Yeah, It sounds great." Draco said, trying his best to sound sincere.

"Well, I don't have the stuff with me now, but for five sickles you can join and you get a badge." Hermione told him, finally turning fully to face him. Her eyes were lit up with eagerness and enthusiasm in her organization.

"Cool. Do you want me to put up posters in the Slytherin common room?" Draco asked.

"Oh, yes please." Hermione said, blushing a little. She was so flustered. Draco had to exercise great self control not to laugh. She was a lot shorter than him, and was looking up eagerly into his eyes. Draco pushed his golden locks out of his face and smiled.

"Come on Hermione, let's go." Ron said, tugging on her arm a little. It was more than obvious that he had large misgivings about the "new" Malfoy.

"Well, we can talk about this later." Draco said, purposely not picking a fight with Ron, and also leaving room for a second conversation.

"Okay." Hermione said, walking out with Ron to find Harry in one of the other compartments. She looked over her shoulder at Draco as she walked down the hallway. He smiled and then walked out into the hall behind them. As soon as they rounded the corner, he went off in the other direction to find Crabbe and Goyle.

**Ron and Hermione point of view**

"What does he think he's playing at?" Ron fumed.

"He was being nice Ron." Hermione said, looking over her shoulder at Malfoy.

"That's my point. Why?" Ron said suspiciously, glancing around the hall to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

"Ever think maybe he thinks SPEW is a good cause?" Hermione asked somewhat angrily.

"No." Ron said.

"And why not? Just because you don't think elf rights are worthwhile doesn't mean that no one does Ron! It happens to be a great cause! Some people aren't as narrow minded as you, and can see that there are alternate ways of looking at things, and that elves deserve rights just as much as humans-" Ron coughed in disgust. Hermione turned on her heel and walked in the other direction.

"Hermione, wait! Hermione I'm sorry, you're right, elves deserve rights, it's a great cause! Hermione, wait! Come back!" Ron called. But she had turned the corner and disappeared into a compartment.

Ron turned and fumed off down the corridor in search of Harry. He burst into the compartment, his ears flaming and his freckles standing out against his flushed skin.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"Malfoy, Hermione. Everyone!" Ron fumed, plopping down across from Harry. Ginny looked a little irked about something. She and Harry traded looks a then she sighed, refraining from giving Ron more evil glares.

"What happened mate?" Harry asked calmly.

"Malfoy was being all interested in SPEW-"

"What? Why?" Harry asked confused.

"That's exactly what I said!" Ron exclaimed. "I asked Hermione what he thought he was playing at, and she was like 'ever thought maybe he was interested in the cause Ron?'" Harry snorted. "And then she got all mad and flew into one of her tempers. She stormed off without even letting me apologize." Ron said.

"Ah well, best to let her simmer. She'll calm down and then you can apologize and everything will be better." Harry said. Ron looked at Ginny expectantly.

"What?" She asked, throwing her hands in the air.

"Nothing." Ron sighed.

"If you want me to go find her and talk to her on your behalf, you have another think coming!" Ginny told him. "I'm tired of fighting your battles." Ron sighed and looked at Harry. Harry did nothing. Ron flopped back in his seat and sighed.

"Pass me a chocolate frog, would you?" Ron asked, holding out his hand. Harry chucked a frog at him.

"Why don't you go find Hermione?" Ginny asked Ron, looking at Harry hopefully.

"Nah, best to let her calm down, like Harry said, so who's up for a game of exploding snap?" Ron asked.

The three played exploding snap for a while, and then Harry declared he was tired of playing and Ginny and Ron played wizard chess. Ginny won every time, she was quite good at the game.

"Ron, don't you have some prefect duties?" Ginny asked, again glancing at Harry.

"Oh, right. I should go patrol around the corridors for a bit. I'll be back in a little while." Ron said, standing up.

"All right, see you." Harry said, glancing at Ginny. Ron did not notice. He went to the door and exited, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

**Ginny And Harry point of view**

"What were we talking about?" Ginny asked.

"I was saying something." Harry said, looking down with embarrassment.

"Oh yes, you said 'Ginny, I need to tell you something, the truth is I've-' and then Ron came in." Ginny told him.

"Oh, right. Well" Harry started. "Well, see, Ginny. For a long time now I've kind of -er- had feelings for you." He said lamely.

"Oh?" Ginny said unhelpfully.

"Yes, more than friendly feelings too. Ginny I like you, like, I like you like you." Harry said hopelessly.

"Oh." Ginny said.

"Yes, and I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to be my girlfriend?" Harry asked more firmly. He was blushing horribly. He finally got the courage to look up and meet her bright blue eyes with his green ones. She was smiling.

"I would love to Harry. I've liked you for a while too." She told him. It was her turn to blush.

"Really?" Harry asked happily.

"Yes."

"What happened to that bloke, Mike or something?" Harry asked.

"We broke up, remember? He and Cho are together." Ginny told him, smiling.

"And, Seamus?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Oh, we were never going out. I just said that to make Ron mad." Ginny told Harry, laughing a little. Harry smiled. "I think we have a little time alone before Ron comes back." Ginny said slyly. Harry smiled. Ginny moved across the aisle into Harry's double seat.

They had a good long snog before Ron came back. Harry ran his fingers through her thick red hair. Ginny was a good kisser. Harry supposed she had had a lot of experience.

"Sorry." Harry mumbled as their noses bumped again. Ginny laughed. "I'm not very good at this." Harry apologized.

"You're fine, just relax." Ginny told him. She moved his glasses and put them on her seat. He put his hand on her cheek and stroked her smooth skin. She smiled.

"Want to try again?" He asked, leaning forward. This time was less clumsy by far. Ginny pulled back a few minutes later, gasping for breath.

"We better stop, Ron will be back soon." Ginny said regretfully. Harry sighed.

"Should we tell him?" Harry asked.

"No way. He'd freak." Ginny said.

"You told him about Michael. And Seamus." Harry said. He didn't feel right lying to Ron.

"Yes, but you're his best friend. He would think it was weird." Ginny told him.

"Is it?" Harry asked.

"No way. Harry, I really like you okay? Don't be so nervous." Ginny told him.

"Okay, good." Harry leaned forward and kissed her softly one last time before she moved back into her seat. She pulled her hair back into a smooth pony tail at the back of her neck so that it wouldn't be too obvious that they had been kissing. When Ron entered a few minutes later, they were playing exploding snap as if they had been doing nothing else for the past half hour.

They arrived soon after at the castle. It was dark, and everyone was hungry. None of the three had seen Hermione, and so they all got into a horesless carriage (although they all now knew what was actually pulling the carriages) and went up to the castle.

They went into the great hall and waited for the hat to start its song. Again this year it warned them against rivalry between the houses, now more than ever. Harry rolled his eyes at Ron. Harry was sitting between Ron and Ginny. Neville was across from them with Seamus and Dean sitting next to each other on his left. Hermione was no where to be seen.

"Ron, oh my goodness, Ron." Harry said, his jaw dropping.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Have you taken a look at the staff table?" Harry said. Just at that minute Dumbledore stood up to make his announcements, as Professor Magonagal walked offstage with the hat and stool and list of the names of the new first years.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. I have just one announcement to make this year, we have a new defense against the dark arts teacher with us this year. Some of you older students might remember Fleur Delaceur from the Triwizard tournament. For those of you who don't, allow me to introduce Professor Delaceur, out new defense against the dark arts teacher." There was loud applause for Fleur, mostly from the male population of Hogwarts. Others were clapping because Umbrige was gone, and still more were clapping out of politness.

Fleur smiled prettily and twitched her blonde hair a little so that it rested behind her shoulder. Fleur stood up gracefully. Dumbledore looked at her. This is what Umbrige had done too, maybe it was a bad sign. Dumbledore sat down, motioning for her to speak. Silence fell over the great hall as everyone waited to hear what she ahd to say.

"Please, call me Professor Fleur." She said in a throaty french accent. There was applause at this short speach. Everyone was grateful that she ahd not droned on for ages as Umbrige had done.

"And now, you may tuck in." Dumbledore said, standing again and smiling graciously at Fleur. He waved his arm and the golden dishes filled with food.

"What's she doing here?" Asked Ron, gaping up at the staff table. Flear was chatting with Professor Flitwick, her hair shielding part of her face.

"Who knows. She said she wanted to improve her english, remember?" Harry said around a mouthful of chops.

"Oh, yeah. Glad I'm in her class." Ron said, looking own at his plate at last and piling it with food. There was chicken, potatoes, chops, pork, beans, squash, corn, and plates of other things that Harry did not recognize.

"She must have gratuated from Maxim's school and decided to come here to teach." Dean said dreamily.

"Good thing I didn't drop defense. Remind me to thank my Gran for that one." Neville said, also staring at Professor Fleur. They all laughed at this. Neville smiled. People had been laughing at his joke for once, rather than at him. That was quite an improvement.

The plates cleared and were re loaded with piles of delicious desserts. Harry could not eat any of them, as he was so full from the dinner. Ron, however, had three types of pie, cake, cookies, and ice cream. Ginny stared at him, horrified, as he downed his second bowl of chocolate ice cream.

"Now that you are all full from this delicious feast, I suggest that you go to bed. I know how much you all want to be on time for your first classes of the year tomorrow morning!" Dumbledore said, there were scattered groans amoung the students as they all rememebered classes.

"I hope I get some of that tomorrow morning." Harry overheard a Ravenclaw third year say to his friend on their way out the door. Harry looked at him in time to see him gesture towards Professor Fleur. They both chuckled and exited the hall towards their common room. Harry, Ginny, and Ron walked with Neville, Seamus, and Dean up to Gryfindor tower. As they got closer to their dorm the crowd thinned and they began to spot old friends. Harry cringed when he saw Collin Creevy, still with his camera around his neck.

"Hermione!" Ginny called, hurrying over towards her. Hermione had been shooting them sidelong looks and walking alone ahead of them. Ron turned his head away and ignored her.

"Hi Ginny" Hermione said, also ignoring Ron. "And Harry. Hi Dean, Seamus and Neville. Did you all have good summers?" She asked, avoiding Ron's eyes.

"Decent." Dean said, shrugging.

"Pretty good I s'pose." Seamus told her, also shrugging.

"Yeah, mine was good. I got a new wand Hermione! Want to see! My gran was awful mad when my dads broke, but I got to pick one out myself! Or, I should say, it got to pick me out. Mr. Olivander is a pretty scary man I think." Neville gushed. He then looked nervously at Dean and Seamus, realizing that they didn't know the story of how his fathers wand had broken. Either they didn't pick up on it, didn't care, or just passed it off as Neville's clumsiness, because niether said anything. "How was your summer?"

"It was really good Neville. I got my braces off, finally." Hermione told him.

"Oh, yeah, I see. Your teeth look really nice Hermione." Neville told her. She smiled gratefully. They all made it to the common room, and Hermione said the password.

"Ginglenort." She said, huffily. Apparently she was not a fan of the password.

"Oh no, I'll never remember that. Ginglenort, ginglenort, ginglenort." Neville repeated over and over to himself under his breath. "Gingerlysnort. No, no, gindlesnort. No, grindlnort. What was it Hermione?"

"Ginglenort." Hermione told him, crawling through the portrait hole. Harry sighed as he entered, happy to be home again.

**Draco POV**

"Pureblood." Draco said distainfully as he stood in front of the wall that would open an allow him entrance to the Slytherin common room.

He entered, looking around. He sighed contentedly. There were the familiar straight backed chairs, the green fire, the green armchairs, the black wood tables. Draco walked across the common room, past the few people who were mingling around, greeting eachother after two months of vacation. Draco went to his bedroom and plopped onto his bed. He smelled the familiar Slytherin smells.

"Hey Draco, good summer?" Asked Graham Flynn, a boy in Draco's year.

"Yeah." Draco replied shortly.

"I hear you're the captain now that Flint's gone." Said Graham.

"Yeah." Draco said. Flynn did not say anything else, and Draco did not encourage conversation. He had never really liked Graham much. He had been forced to hang out with him because of his father's buisness, but under different circumstances Draco would never seek out his company. They had nothing in common.

Draco changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed. He was tired, and wanted to be fresh for his first day of classes the next morning. He thought of the new defense teacher and smiled. When he closed his eyes, however, it was not her face that popped up on the underside of his eyelids. It was Hermione Granger's newly metal free face that appeared in his minds eye.

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**Authors Note: You like? Well no, of course you don't like. No one is reading this story, how can anyone possibly like it? Okay, well on the off chance that you are reading this, review me with suggestions for the next chapter!!**

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